Independently-sourced research challenges the idea that LDL (low-density lipoprotein) is the "bad cholesterol," and causes heart disease.
However, the theory that LDL is "bad" persists in the mainstream media and with Big Pharma, mainly because they would lose billions of dollars in drugs and treatments to admit the theory lacks merit.
The hypothesis of saturated fat creating artery-clogging cholesterol as the source of heart disease should be considered dead and incapable of resuscitating, based on the scientific evidence.
But one still sees and hears fearful statements about lowering cholesterol and avoiding heart disease, mostly on mainstream media but even all too often on internet alternative media sources.
Current research is showing LDL is not dangerous and it’s not an accurate marker for pending heart disease.

A new study out of Japan and published in the European Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology shows how switching the dietary oil of chow fed to mice from soybean oil to coconut oil reduced skin inflammation.
The skin healing properties of coconut oil, especially virgin coconut oil, applied topically to the skin have been known for a long time.
Even though coconut oil is sold as a dietary oil, people applying it topically are seeing tremendous results for their skin conditions such as acne, eczema, keratosis polaris, psoriasis, rosacea, and fungal infections.
We have suspected for years that the reason people in tropical climates who eat their traditional diets which are high in the saturated fats of coconut oil had such beautiful skin, even though they are exposed to the sun to a greater degree than westerners, is because of the high amounts of coconut oil in their diet, which does not oxidize and cause free radical damage as polyunsaturated fats do.
Skin cancer, for example, is almost unheard of in tropical climates like the Philippines, but common in western nations, even in colder climates with far less exposure to the sun.
Researchers in Japan apparently wanted to test this theory of dietary coconut oil reducing allergic skin inflammation in the laboratory:
"Coconut oil is used as a dietary oil worldwide, and its healthy effects are recognized by the fact that coconut oil is easy to digest, helps in weight management, increases healthy cholesterol and provides instant energy.
Although topical application of coconut oil is known to reduce skin infection and inflammation, whether dietary coconut oil has any role in decreasing skin inflammation is unknown.
In this study, we showed the impact of dietary coconut oil in allergic skin inflammation by using a mouse model of contact hypersensitivity (CHS)."

There’s a media war going on in the UK involving the issue of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs.
The British Daily Mail's health editor, Barney Calman, labeled two medical doctors and a PhD nutritionist as "statin deniers" for their efforts in educating the public and debunking the cholesterol-heart disease causation dogma while exposing statin drug dangers.
The two doctors are Dr. Malcolm Kendrick and Dr. Aseem Malhotra. The nutritionist is Zoe Harcombe, PhD.
The Daily Mail article is blaming their "propaganda" as convincing people to stop taking cholesterol-lowering drugs which they claim are leading more people to suffer heart attacks as a result.
Since this is another example of corporate-sponsored "mainstream" media presenting only the pharmaceutical position on their own products and seeking to censor anyone who opposes them, we are publishing the responses from those accused of murder for exposing the dangers of statin drugs, as well as questioning the "science" used for the most widely prescribed class of drugs in the world.

Many who have used coconut oil for their skin and hair rave about its positive effects. Many testimonials to the powerful healing properties of virgin coconut oil for skin conditions have been published here at CoconutOil.com over the years. People have testified to virgin coconut oil healing fungal skin infections, acne, eczema, keratosis polaris, psoriasis, rosacea, and more.
But exactly how virgin coconut oil is so beneficial for applying on one's skin has rarely, if ever, been thoroughly analyzed on a chemical and cellular level.
That’s no longer the case, as a new study has recently determined what goes on biochemically within the skin’s cellular and genetic composition when using virgin coconut oil on one’s skin.
This report, In vitro anti-inflammatory and skin protective properties of Virgin coconut oil, was published by the Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine in January, 2019.

Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs are a $100 billion-a-year industry.
Lipitor was, by far, the most profitable drug in the history of mankind among all pharmaceutical products, let alone being the most profitable cholesterol drug before its patent expired at the end of 2011. Sales to date from this one particular cholesterol-lowering statin drug have exceeded $140 billion.
After Lipitor’s patent expired at the end of 2011, the FDA issued its first warnings against statin drugs, which include: liver injury, memory loss, diabetes, and muscle damage, among others. Thousands of lawsuits against the maker of Lipitor followed.
As we have reported many times over the years here at Health Impact News, the cholesterol theory of heart disease is not well-supported by science at all.
In fact, much of the science states that cholesterol is an important part of our health, and contrary to popular belief, those with the highest levels of cholesterol actually live longer than those with lower levels of cholesterol in their blood.
However, with such a large segment of the American population moving into their senior years, the pharmaceutical industry's attempt to keep seniors on cholesterol-lowering statin drugs continues unabated, and the largely pharma-funded corporate media is doing their part to silence doctors and other researchers who criticize the failed cholesterol theory of heart disease.
Dr. Malcolm Kendrick, a Scottish doctor and the author of the book The Great Cholesterol Con, has had his entire Wikipedia entry deleted recently in an obvious attempt to silence him as a new study was just published to try and justify putting more seniors on statin drugs.
Here are his comments on this "new" study.

A recent study published late 2018 confirms an earlier Health Impact News article that macular degeneration, a disease mainstream medicine considers irreversible, can be prevented, attenuated, and even reversed naturally.
The natural ingredient this study tested was coconut oil.
This study was conducted by Nigeria’s University of Ilorin’s Department of Physiology.
The final report, titled "Coconut oil protects against light-induced retina degeneration in male Wistar rats" was published by the journal Pathophysiology.

In parts of Asia, both peanut oil and coconut oil are often used for cooking. A recent study in India compared cooking with peanut oil to cooking with coconut oil to determine the relative health benefits for weight management, heart disease, and diabetes.
The researchers used nine healthy male volunteers with normal body mass index or BMI levels to undergo eight weeks of consuming a normally balanced diet cooked with coconut oil, followed by a six-week "washout" period, then another eight weeks of the same diet cooked with peanut oil.
The study report is called Coconut oil consumption improves fat-free mass, plasma HDL-cholesterol and insulin sensitivity in healthy men with normal BMI compared to peanut oil.
The researchers concluded:
"… compared to peanut oil, the consumption of coconut oil in a balanced diet resulted in increased fat-free mass, plasma HDL-C, elicited favourable changes on insulin sensitivity and CVD risk-associated parameters in healthy men with normal BMI."

Health Canada is in the process of revising its food guidelines for 2019. Some inside sources say there is not that much difference with this year's Canada Health food guidelines than previous years, except that overall it leans more toward a plant-based diet. Its final draft hasn't been published yet.
Much like USDA nutritional guidelines, "healthy eating" is defined by avoiding saturated fats and emphasizing grains and carbohydrates.
A group of physicians and nutritionists known as the Canadian Clinicians for Therapeutic Nutrition have opposed the Canadian government dietary advice and published their own opinions on the matter in the Calgary Herald citing the nutritional validity of healthy fats which can include meats and dairy, as they take a "whole foods" approach to eating rather than processed foods, promoting more of a high-fat and low-carb dietary approach.
They represent a growing group of doctors and nutritionists who are more concerned about their patients' health than they are about being politically correct about diet and nutrition:
"We have read the opinion article titled “Health Canada’s new Food Guide is on the right track” with interest.
We represent a growing number of Canadian physicians and health professionals, called the Canadian Clinicians for Therapeutic Nutrition, who use whole-food nutritional strategies, which often include meat, eggs and dairy, to prevent and often put into remission the burden of chronic non-communicable disease in our patients.
This usually involves lower levels of carbohydrates and higher levels of natural fats than is currently recommended, a therapeutic nutritional strategy well supported in the literature."

A very recent review on nutritional approaches toward preventing and reversing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) was conducted in Christchurch, New Zealand’s Canterbury University. The results were submitted to the journal Nutrition.
It’s title: "The ketogenic diet as a potential treatment and prevention strategy for Alzheimer's disease."
After analyzing 33 studies researching AD and other neurological disorders handled with a ketogenic diet and supplementing coconut oil, the University of Canterbury review analysis concluded:
"In this review, we hypothesize that the ketogenic diet could be an effective treatment and prevention for Alzheimer's disease, but both ketone production and carbohydrate restriction may be needed to achieve this."

Most of us are not used to considering dietary fat as a high source of energy for all-out exercise, athletic activity, and physical labor. Energy from fat has usually been associated with stored fat within the body as a reserve for when carbohydrate energy runs out.
Now a 2018 Russian study using cross-country skiers as human subjects determined medium chain fatty acids (MCFA), normally contained in only a few saturated fats, supplied immediate energy during high demand athletic endeavors.
These fatty acids don’t get stored as fat, but provide sustained energy. This truth can benefit all of us, not just athletes.